This is the third in a series of articles about the Diaconate from Teri Van Huss and Nancy Key, postulants who are engaged in ministry education in a 3-year program at the School for Deacons in Berkeley. In the second year students start Field Education where they serve 240 hours per year in a mentored setting at a local community program. The Field Ed for third-year students, also 240 hours, is a parish placement at a church different than their own. Teri has completed her community placement and will begin a parish placement with Fr. Luis Rodriquez at Church of the Saviour in Hanford. Nancy is beginning her community placement with Clinica Sierra Vista homeless program.

Thus, we call this First Forays in the Field – a reflection about how the universe shifts when you are faced with real world situations that are completely out of your experience. We are learning first-hand the role of the deacon as a servant leader, and about the ministry of presence. How can we preach the Good News to someone who needs food, water, and shelter? What does it really mean to “be” with the poor or the sick or the lonely? We are learning that when we help to provide food, water, and shelter or medical assistance or safety from violence, we are indeed spreading the Gospel! The Good News of Christ is channeled through those who love them enough to be with them. So, we invite you to take a walk with Nancy.

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Today was my first day of street outreach with the Clinica Sierra Vista Healthcare for the Homeless Program street outreach team. Today, I simply “shadowed” Ka and Greg, the two outreach workers I was with. My goal was to learn and do no harm.

We drove down to the south part of Fresno, close to the railroad tracks and freeway, with scattered industrial sites nearby. Lining a little-used wide street were ten or twelve shanties constructed from a variety of materials including wood, tents, and cloth. Some were fortified by a gaggle of shopping carts. On a cross-street was one large encampment, covered with large pieces of wood. Greg told me that was the “big house,” meaning the “drug house.” He said there would be a “guard” outside. Sure enough, a stern looking man was sitting in a chair just outside the big house. We asked him if he would like some information about health care, and he answered with a firm “no!” We moved on.

One of the shanties was made of wood with a cross nailed on it. One arm of the cross said “God loves you,” and the other said “God bless you.” The man was standing outside, and was quite willing to talk about his house. On the outer walls he had affixed wood in the shape of a window, with red pots of flowers painted on it. And paintings on the walls. We complimented him on his house, and he said, “Everything belongs to God: He did everything here.” He clearly was grateful for the gifts of God.

After moving along, we encountered a man cleaning up a pile of charred rubble from his encampment. We greeted him and gave him a brochure, explaining that he could get free medical and dental care at the CSV clinic. He – as others had also been – was grateful for the information, mentioning that he had a sore tooth that needed a dentist. We asked him about the rubble. He responded that the fire had burned his place, destroying everything. He wanted to clear the rubble so he could finish constructing a new shelter. The fire was apparently deliberately set because the people weren’t keeping their area neat. Not only did the fire drive out the offending residents, but it also destroyed three other shanties.

Each of the people we spoke to – with the exception of the man guarding the Big House – expressed sincere gratitude. We had long conversations with several of them, in some cases about their trouble getting government assistance, in some cases about their medical problems. They spoke of their neighbors, knowing who was home, who was working, etc. So I learned about gratitude, openness, and community.

At another encampment – this one next to a canal – we visited with six or seven residents. Several of these residents were sitting outside of their tents. They too were grateful for the information and shared a bit of their needs. After we had been in the area for several minutes, other residents appeared and came up to us. They had heard about the information and first aid packets were brought, and in many cases, seeking them for their friends who were not presently at home. One woman came up and wanted several brochures. She said she had previously recommended the clinic to people, though she hadn’t been herself. She wanted to distribute the information. After she left, we asked one of the residents who lingered to talk with us who was the “mayor.” Well, Sheila is, she said, gesturing toward the woman who had asked for several brochures. “She’s the brightest bulb in the box,” she explained, laughing.

We asked her about the cleanliness of the canal water. Oh, it’s dirty, she said. But it’s good for keeping things cold. And I have a place down there (gesturing to a small area of the canal) that I go in the morning to wash up.

When you live in the dirt, you get dirty, she said. Her name was Nancy, same as mine.

St. Paul’s Episcopal Church welcomes all to our Festival Welcoming Eucharist,Sunday, July 28, 2013, at 4:00 p.m. Light refreshments will be served after the service.

The entire community is welcome to come join in song, praise, and thanksgiving for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Bakersfield. Bishop Chet Talton will be our celebrant and preacher.

Please come and bring friends to join us in our celebration!

CHOIR MEMBERS NEEDED!

We need choir members from other parishes to join us on July 28th for the 4 p.m. Festival Welcoming Celebration at St. Paul’s in Bakersfield. If you plan to join us,

please be in the sanctuary of St. Paul’s, Bakersfield by 3 p.m. on July 28 to rehearse the piece we’ll be singing: Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Thy Peace by Jody Lindh.

Email Miriam Raub Vivian (mvivian@csub.edu) to let her know you’d like to join the festival choir, and she’ll email you a pdf of the music.

From Commission on Ministry…

Celebration of Ministry Conference

with the Rev. Eric Law

August 30- September 1, 2013

We welcome The Rev. Eric Law as our conference leader for this year’s ministry event at ECCO. Eric Law is the Founder and Executive Director of the Kaleidoscope Institute, the mission of which is to create inclusive and sustainable churches and communities.

For more than 20 years, he has provided transformative and comprehensive training and resources for churches and ministries in all the major church denominations in the United State and Canada. He is the author of 7 books including The Wolf Shall Dwell with the Lamb and, his latest Holy Currencies: Six Blessings for Sustainable Missional Ministries. You may order Holy Currencies on the Amazon website, either in print form or download to your Kindle reader.

Remember, the Ministry Conferences are for everyone in our Diocese! Laity and clergy alike will learn a great deal about transforming the way we think about church, “from a static, linear and maintenance-type mode to a dynamic, circulatory, and rejuvenating vision of a church that interacts with the wider community…”

To read more about The Rev. Eric Law and the Kaleidoscope Institute, visit their website at www.kscopeinstitute.org.

To register for the Annual Celebration of Ministry Retreat click here for the registration form and click here for the Retreat Schedule Registration forms are due August 15, 2013. There will be a $10 fee for late registration.

Register today!

Focus on Stewardship …

The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS) membership!

Good News! The Rev. Laurel Johnston, our stewardship speaker from our leadership day this past year and executive director of The Episcopal Network for Stewardship (TENS), has given the diocese a gift membership to TENS. Free stewardship materials are available by logging on to www.tens.org. Even more materials will be available to our congregations with this gift membership.

The diocese will be emailing the password for access to the additional resource materials to all clergy this coming week. Your stewardship chairperson may also have access to the password and additional resources by calling the diocesan office. These resources can prove invaluable as you plan your stewardship programs.

People News…

Stephen Bentley was ordained to the diaconate July 20th and is now The Rev. Deacon Stephen Bentley. He will continue to serve at Christ the King in Riverbank. Congratulations!

“One ship sails East, And another West, By the self-same winds that blow, Tis the set of the sails And not the gales, That tells the way we go.

Like the winds of the sea Are the waves of time, As we journey along through life, Tis the set of the soul, That determines the goal, And not the calm or the strife.”

Ella Wheeler Wilcox

Sailing is the propulsion of a vehicle and the control of its movement with large (usually fabric) foils called sails. By changing the rigging, rudder, and sometimes the keel or centreboard, a sailor manages the force of the wind on the sails in order to move the vessel relative to its surrounding medium (typically water, but also land and ice) and change its direction and speed. Mastery of the skill requires experience in varying wind and sea conditions, as well as knowledge concerning sailboats themselves and an understanding of one’s surroundings.

While there are still some places in the world where sail-powered passenger, fishing and trading vessels are used, these craft have become rarer as internal combustion engines have become economically viable in even the poorest and most remote areas. In most countries sailing is enjoyed as a recreational activity or as a sport. Recreational sailing or yachting can be divided into racing and cruising. Cruising can include extended offshore and ocean-crossing trips, coastal sailing within sight of land, and daysailing.

Two-masted Schooner

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Schedule of Services

Sunday At 9:00 AM with Coffee Hour Following

On the first Sunday of the Month a second service will be at 5:00 PM

Tuesday at 7:30 AM

Vision Statement

We the people of the Episcopal Church of Saint Anne believe in following Jesus Christ in his radical acceptance, inclusion and honoring of all persons. Through our worship of God and our caring for others, we minister Christ’s love to our congregation, our community and the world. We fulfill the meaning of being Christian by loving each other and through honoring the rich heritage of diversity represented in the Episcopal Church in the United States.